How do we access the mods?

[Gzian]

I see lots of mods for this game but don't know how to access them. Do I download them and save them to a particular directory? If so, what

How about mods that come with the gold game. How do I access these. Please help

[Arkcon]

I'm gonna repost a tiny snip of the excellent newbie FAQ, located at the top of these forums:

16.2 Managing Mods(Quikngruvn)
16.2.1 Each mod is placed into its own directory in the Space Empires IV folder.(Quikngruvn)
16.2.2 There are several ways to make SEIV use a mod instead of the stock files:
16.2.2.1 Use Matryx Mod Launcher Instructions are available with the program.
16.2.2.2 Edit the file path.txt. Instructions are in that file.
16.2.2.3 Launch SEIV using command line options. Instructions are in history.txt, under 'Version 1.39.'

[Randallw]

Since you ask about Gold I think I can answer.
On the Gold disk in the Extras folder there is the ModLaunching Program. Install the Modlauncher in the SE4 directory. With each mod you get, install it in the SE4 folder. The mod launcher will then automatically find every mod you have and you can choose the one you want each time. 2 hints about the mod launcher. When you open the mod to try and load a game it will be in the normal savegame folder. You need to browse for the mod folders savegame folder to find any mod games you saved. Also If you leave the Modlauncher on and then open SE4 itself it will automatically use whichever mod was highlighted so you may get a message saying your normal game won't load.

[Mephisto]

Download the TDM-ModPack. It comes with a setup tool and it installs the latest Version of the Modlauncher, too.

[Suicide Junkie]

I still don't see what is so hard about changing the path.txt

Double click to open, just type it in. Save, run SE4.
For mods with long filenames, I leave the name in the comments section of the file, so I can copy-paste.

[Fyron]

It is not hard, it is just rather inconvenient. Especially if you are in a few PBW games that use different mods. The Mod Launcher lets you just pick the savegame and it will load SE4 with the appropriate mod. Far less time consuming than manual editing of path.txt.